Bit.Trip Saga for the 3DS is a hallucinatory journey through rhythm madness

The Bit.Trip series of games works well as a collection, and the 3DS makes it …

The six Bit.Trip titles were first released for Nintendo's WiiWare platform, where they received critical acclaim, but they failed to take off in the same way as a popular Xbox Live or PlayStation Network game. Nintendo has never been a company to fully support online offerings, so it's great that the games have been collected in both a Wii and 3DS package—called Bit.Trip Complete and Bit.Trip Saga, respectively—so you can buy them all at once without suffering through the Wii's online interface.

Each game plays differently, but the retro aesthetic and mixture of music and graphics brings them all together into a thematic whole. You may be running, playing a psychedelic version of Pong, or even just avoiding colored dots as a growing or shrinking blob, but each game is easy to understand and play. The music is always entrancing, and it syncs up with the action of the screen, making you feel like you're conducting a chiptunes orchestra as you play each game.

Bit.trip Core

Each game is strong on its own, and they all work together very well in this collection; you get more out of the experience by jumping around each game. Taken as a whole, the collection of games offers a definitive guide on how to create an immersive experience from primitive graphics and sounds woven together expertly with the play itself. It's even more engaging when you're playing the 3DS version with headphones.

The 3D in the 3DS version of the game occurs mostly in the backgrounds, and the extra depth makes the swirling patterns and splashes of geometric shapes look even better. The Wii version comes with a series of challenges that for some reason has been left off the 3DS game, which is distressing given that both games are being sold for the same price. Still, there's not a bad choice to be made between the two packages. Even without the added content, the 3DS title feels more immersive and intimate, and it's the version of the game I found myself playing when I was in the mood.

The Bit.Trip series feels wonderful as a collection, and this is a great buy for anyone who is into retro video game music, rhythm games, or is just in the mood for something different.